Death changes people
by HintonGirl
Summary: 'I looked around to find him agian. I knew i shouldn't go over but i just can't help myself.' Rated for violance and maybe a little bite of bad language.
1. Meeting

**Death Changes People**

I woke up the next day to the sound of talking, the gang must have come over early, that's how it always been. People say that death changes people but I disagree. After Johnny and Dally died the gang was still the gang, nothing changed. Two-bit is still his joking, Mickey Mouse fan self. Steve is still always complaining and Darry is still the superman of the gang. Ponyboy still loves movies and books and I'm still lovable Sodapop Curtis.

"Soda your finally up, I've been trying forever to wake you." ,said my big brother Darry.

"I went to bed late last night." ,I answered Darry. He didn't look too happy with my answer. I hate it when even though I'm seventeen years old he still treats me like a little kid. Now I can see why Pony complains about him a lot.

"Hey Steve, man how you doing?" ,I asked my best friend Steve. He was sitting on the table when Darry told him to get off.

"Good, hey how about tonight we go to Buck's?" ,Steve asked me. Me and Steve go to buck's a lot, usually to just play poker.

"Well i got nothing else to do so why not. Hey Two-bit you wanna come too?" ,i asked Two-bit. he just shook his head as there was Chocolate cake stuffed in his mouth.

"Well buddy I guess it's just you and me." ,said Steve as he playfully punch my shoulder. I smiled in response. This is going to be a fun night.

**Buck's place, 8pm**

I walked into Buck's place and as usual it was crowded. We walked over to the bar and Steve ordered two drinks.

"Steve you know I don't drink!" ,I yelled at him. The music was so loud I don't think he even heard me.

"What!" ,he yelled back. I didn't even try to respond back as I know he could hear me.

"Wiseass" ,I mumbled under my breath.

"What!" ,he said but I know this time he literally didn't hear me.

"I said Wiseass!" ,I yelled at him in response to his question. He just looked at me for a moment then looked away ignoring me. I wasn't afraid to call him names as we never got in a fight before.

"Hey you want to play some poker?" ,Steve asked after swallowing the last of his drink. We would always play poker when were here. We think it more as a job, you work hard then get money in return, except it ain't as hard because we beat almost everyone in the building.

"Sure why not." ,I said as I got my aces in my shoes ready. Only the gang knows about the aces. That's probably why they never play against me, they know they don't stand a chance.

"Hey Sal anybody we can beat?" ,Steve asked as he walked up to Sal. Sal was always the one who told us how good someone is and there tricks.

"You better watch out of that guy over there. He's pretty good for a newbie." ,Sal said nodding over towards a guy in a white tank top and a leather jacket. He looks around thirty. He has blonde hair that is greased and dark brown eyes that are filled with life.

"Nah I can take him. I can take anybody." ,I said. Sal had a look on his face that says 'I'm not sure'

"I don't know man, he's pretty good. Even for you." ,I just ignored him and walked up to the man.

"Hey want to play a game of poker?" ,I asked him. He looked up at me. I was shocked at the resembles, I didn't notice how much he looked like me from all the way across the room. His eyes were wide and I knew he noticed it to.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be disappointed when you don't win." ,he said. I laughed, like anyone can beat me.

"You mean when _I_ win." ,I sat down and shuffled the cards. He was looking me straight in the eyes, no expression on his face.

**Buck's place, 9:15pm**

"Come on buddy you can take him." ,Steve encouraged me. It's been an hour and we still didn't have a winner. This man was better than what I thought.

"Let's see if you can bet this, four of a kind." ,I said putting my cards down so they can see.

"Good hand, but not good enough, royal flush." ,he said smiling and taking the pile in the middle. I watched as he took my favorite watch, the watch my dad gave to me before he died.

"Better luck next time." ,he said as he walked away. I couldn't believe it, this is the first time anyone has beat me in poker. I decided to follow him, leaving an angry Steve behind. I had to find out his secret.

"Hey!" ,I stopped him before he went out the door. He turned around with a smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" ,I asked him. He smiled even bigger.

"It's a secret." ,he said. He walked away throwing his ball up and down while catching it. I followed him.

"And what is that secret?" ,he stopped and looked at me. He looked at me trying to think if he should tell me or not. He smiled.

"It's a gift, my father was just as good as me. And I see you are pretty good at it yourself."

"Hey but no one in my family liked to play poker, it's just Me." ,I said as I shrugged. It's true my family always wondered why I liked it, or for that matter good at it.

"We'll see, how bout we go get something to eat sometime." ,he looked down at me and smiled. Darry would probably not like that I'm hanging out with a stranger but I still said yes. He told me he will meet me at Buck's then we went our separate ways.

**Curtis house, 9:40pm**

"So how was Buck's?" ,asked Darry as he was sitting in a chair reading the newspaper.

"Good, I played poker." ,I said as I plumped down in an arm chair.

"Oh, good"

"I lost, the guy beat Me." ,I said. Everything went quiet. Darry was just staring at me in disbelief and anger.

"What! What did you lose?" ,he asked standing up from his chair, the newspaper long forgotten.

"Like…20 dollars, a keychain, and a comb and…and dad's watch." ,Darry went ballistic. I didn't blame him, I lost a lot of stuff, and important stuff.

"Soda how did this happen!" ,he said turning around to face me after slamming his fist against the wall.

"I don't know, the man was good, really good."

"Who is he, do you know?" ,he asked.

"His name is Thomas Bergeson." ,I answered him. He looked at me in disbelief, like he heard of that name before. He started to shake his head back and forth.

"No…no…no, you are not going to go near that man ok."

"Too late, I'm going to go to Buck's with him tomorrow night."

"No you're not!" ,he yelled.

"Why, do you know him?" ,I asked. I started to get angry. So he took some important things from me, maybe this way I can get them back. Darry just looked at me, his anger completely gone.

"No…I don't know him and I don't think I want to. You are not going tomorrow night. You are not going to see that man again, I will bash his head in for ever going near you." ,he said when suddenly the door opened to reveal Ponyboy.

"Hey what happened." ,he said. I know he can tell by how tense it is that we were just in a fight. I didn't want to speak to him though so I ran out to get ready for bed.


	2. Telling and Getting back

"Hey you got any beer?" ,said Two-bit as he walked over to the fridge. Sometimes I think he only comes here for the beer.

"Hey buddy why you bailed on me in Buck's man?" ,Steve said from behind me. I looked over at him. I expected him to have an angry face on him but instead he looked like any normal day. Sometimes I think it weird how if someone does one small thing like drops some beer on him he would flip. If I do he will just say its ok and move on.

"I wanted to have a little talk with the guy. He didn't give me my watch back though." ,I said. I didn't want to tell him about meeting him at Buck's. I was afraid he will react the same way as Darry.

"What? You lost your father's watch?" ,said Two-bit as he found the stash of beer. Why does everyone do that, it's just a watch. Sure my dad gave it to me but still.

"Hey some jerk beat him in poker. He must have a lot of guts to mess with us." ,Steve said. I can tell he was really angry about it.

"A guy beat Soda in poker, I'm shocked. Hey Soda did you beat the crap out of him?" ,Two-bit said. I opened my mouth to say something but Steve beat me to it.

"Of course he did, why wouldn't he. That man deserved it, right Soda." ,Steve said. He was staring at me waiting for me to say right.

"You can say that." ,I lied.

"See there you go." ,Steve said pointing to Two-bit. Two-bit just shrugged and went in the living room to watch Mickey Mouse. Why that man likes that show is beyond me. It suddenly got real loud as Darry and Ponyboy just got up. Darry walked past me as I gave him a cold stare. I turned around to face eye to eye with Pony. He looked at me like he was trying to find the real Soda. I will agree I had been acting weird lately. I don't smile as much as I used to and I never get into a fight with Darry. I just gave him a soft smile and went into our room.

"Soda?" ,Pony said from the door. I turned around to face him. He had a worried face on him revealing that he was worried about me.

"Hey?" ,I asked. My voice was shaking. I don't know why, I just am.

"What's going on?" ,he asked politely.

"I met this guy and Darry flipped out on me for some reason that's all. Don't ask why-I don't know." ,I answered him. He looked at me carefully to see if I was telling the truth. I know he is going to speak to Darry about this. I hope he does then maybe I can figure out what his problem was. I know it's more than just the watch. The look on his face when I told him the man's name, I know he knows something I don't.

"You're going to ask Darry aren't you?" ,I asked.

"Yea, I Am." ,he said as he walked out of the room. I watched as he walks away. I quietly told him good luck. Darry never tells anybody anything.

"Hey buddy let's go to Buck's, maybe we can get your watch back." ,asked Steve. I just nodded and we went to the place.

**Buck's place**

"Hey!" ,shouted Steve. We just spotted Thomas ordering a drink. He was wearing almost the same cloths except he wore a plaid button up shirt instead of the leather jacket. He looked even more like me than before, it was like looking in a mirror.

"Hey man what's wrong with you?" ,yelled Steve. He turned the man to face us. He looked at us in confusion.

"What?" ,he asked. I searched him with my eyes to find my watch on his wrists.

"What do you mean what? Give my friend his watch back!" ,Steve shouted. He looked at the watch in his wrist.

"Why I won it?" ,he asked. I can tell he already hates Steve.

"My father gave it to me…before he died." ,I answered. He looked at me and again at the watch. He took it off his wrist then tossed it to me. I caught it and looked up to face him. He had a smile on his face but I knew it was a sad one.

"See you tonight, right?" ,he asked. I smiled and nodded. Steve starred at me as we walked out. He had been staring at me for about five minutes until I looked at him.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"You planed on seeing him tonight. Man he took your father's watch then refused to give it back. That jerk tried to mess with us."

"He did give it back. Plus I feel like I know him, I don't know I can't explain it. Don't tell Darry though." ,I said to him. I decided that I was going to meet him tonight, with or without Darry complaining. Steve looked at me, he gave up on arguing with me. We just stared at each other for a while till we started to walk to the house in silence.

**Author's note:**

** I'm sorry it's so short, i will try to make the other one bigger. I should be updating it tomorrow. I hope you like it so far. Please review!:]**


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